NBA Blog

Before I delve into my prediction for Game 3, I wanted to respond to a question from my cousin.  He apparently is a fan of Chauncey Billups, and called me out for questioning Chauncey’s clearly undeserved nickname.  I still say that Chauncey does not deserve the name ‘Mr. Big Shot’ and his postseason play this year helped solidify my position.  Well, my cousin dared me to come up with a list of the top-5 point guards in the NBA RIGHT NOW.  However, instead of creating my own list of five players, I thought I would provide some key statistics for several quality point guards in the NBA and let some of the readers offer their opinions. 

Just note that I did not include players like Gilbert Arenas, Brandon Roy, or Jason Terry because they are combo guards, and not true point guards.  I only considered players that start at point guard and run at the point guard position only.  Below you can see the statistics, and they are ranked according to their overal team record, which is an extremely important factor for me.

PLAYER	TEAM	RECORD	GAMES	PPG	FG%	3%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	TO PG	A/TO	EFF
Steve Nash	Suns	61-21	76	18.6	53.2	45.5	90.0	3.5	11.6	0.8	3.8	3.08	24.50
Tony Parker	Spurs	58-24	77	18.6	52.0	39.5	78.0	3.2	5.5	1.1	2.5	2.20	18.10
Chauncey Billups	Pistons	53-29	70	17.0	42.7	34.5	88.0	3.4	7.2	1.3	2.0	3.59	19.60
Deron Williams	Jazz	51-31	80	16.2	45.6	32.2	76.7	3.3	9.3	1.0	3.1	3.03	18.70
Kirk Hinrich	Bulls	49-33	80	16.6	44.8	41.5	83.5	3.4	6.2	1.3	2.4	2.62	17.50
T.J. Ford	Raptors	47-35	75	14.0	43.6	30.4	81.9	3.1	7.9	1.4	3.1	2.58	15.92
Baron Davis	Warriors	42-40	63	20.1	43.9	30.4	74.5	4.4	8.1	2.1	3.1	2.64	21.40
Jason Kidd	Nets	41-41	80	13.0	40.6	34.3	78.0	8.2	9.2	1.6	2.7	3.46	22.24
Chris Paul	Hornets	39-43	64	17.2	43.7	35.0	82.0	4.4	8.9	1.8	2.5	3.53	21.22
Andre Miller	76ers	35-47	57	13.4	46.7	14.3	78.4	4.4	7.8	1.4	2.8	2.74	17.55
Mike Bibby	Kings	33-49	82	17.1	40.0	36.0	83.0	3.2	4.7	1.1	2.4	1.97	14.60
Stephon Marbury	Knicks	33-49	74	16.4	41.5	35.7	76.9	2.9	5.4	1.0	2.4	2.25	14.62
Mo Williams	Bucks	28-54	68	17.3	44.6	34.6	85.5	4.8	6.1	1.3	3.0	2.06	17.63

 

 Based on all the evidence above, I would have to rank the NBA’s elite point guards in this order:
1.  Steve Nash
2.  Jason Kidd (still the best all-around point guard in the league)
3.  Chris Paul (his team was decimated by injuries and his 3.53 assist-turnover ratio was second only to Chauncey Billups)
4.  Tony Parker (soon to move up after he wins his third title at the age of 25)
5.  Baron Davis (would be the best point guard in the league if he could stay healthy)
6.  Deron Williams
7.  Chauncey Billups (astounding assist-turnover ratio, but for a shooter, he shooting percentage stinks)
8.  Kirk Hinrich (his weakness, shooting, is improving every year which would easily bump him up the list)
9.  T.J. Ford (not bad for a guy who was nearly paralyzed)
10.  Mo Williams (can he be this good after a fat contract, read Mike James)
11.  Mike Bibby (that contract looks pretty bad right now)
12.  Andre Miller (can’t shoot)
13.  Starbury (and he might get bumped real soon by Rafer Alston or Jameer Nelson)

There were two statistics that completely blew me away.  The first was the fact that Mike Bibby played the entire season.  I thought for sure he would have missed his typical 15 games.  The second stat was Andre miller’s three point percentage.  I knew he was not a good shooter, but even Jason Kidd hit 34% of his threes.  So, Andre Miller is completely incapable of knocking down the three ball.  He does provide us with a little something extra.  Take a look at the following photo. 

That hair should count for something, don’t you think?

Hopefully, Shawn Livingston will return from his horrific knee injury and I will be able add him to this list next season.

Some thoughts on last night’s game: 

1.  Every analyst last night thought that Game 1 was going to be Cleveland’s best chance to defeat the Spurs because of the ‘rust’ factor.  I thought the Spurs would break the 90 point barrier.  Well, we were both wrong.  I may have underestimated the rust factor (obviously evident during the 2-for-15 shooting drought in the second quarter), but the analysts seriously overplayed it.  If you go back and check on this Spurs team, they are the oldest in the league.  These are seasoned veterans.  Even their youngest big minutes guy, Parker, has been playing professionally since he was 16.  The majority of these guys have been playing in big games for a long time (Oberto, Ginobili, Duncan, Parker, Barry, Horry, Bowen, and even Vaughn to a degree).  This is a team that needed rest more than regular playing time.  With the combination of the coaching and experience, they were more than ready to play a finals game.  Sure there was some rust, but not nearly as much as the analysts expected.  I still say that the Cavs best chance to win is Game 3 where they ride the wave of fan support. 

2.  The Spurs fans were not very loud last night, which was somewhat disappointing.  Perhaps they’ve grown accustomed to winning, or they just don’t realize how much louder they need to be.  Remember, this is a group of fans that, at one time, used to pack the Alamodome with 35,000 people for NBA Finals games.  I don’t think they have ever fully recovered from those moments.  I am expecting more from them on Sunday night.

3.  Can we stick a fork in Larry Hughes for the season?  I know Cavs fans would probably like to see it.  Hughes cannot move.  At all.  I’m being serious.  Tony Parker looked like he was jogging and was easily cruising by Hughes.  I am wondering why Mike Brown is not giving Daniel (I’m not calling him Boobie) Gibson more minutes. 

4.  If there is some concern about his ability to defend, hello, stick him on Bowen.  LeBron should be on Parker full time.  Coach Brown also needs to run more pick-and-pops run Big Z or Drew Gooden to try to get them going early.  Gooden is a spaz.  (Sorry, just felt like throwing that in there).  The only way he is effective at all is if he is included offensively. 

(Sidebar:  I really cannot see why they Cavs signed him to a long-term deal.  He is a complete liability defensively.  I’m pretty sure Jeff Van Gundy wanted to kneecap him by the end of the game). 

5.  Can we please get rid of the ‘motion-sickness’ cam that ABC uses?  I feel like my ninth Jaeger-Bomb shot just settled every time that camera is running.  I’m not sure if I am seeing straight, and there is a 78% chance that I might throw up.  I do not know if it is actually called the ‘motion sickness’ cam, or not.  There may be several other names for it, like ’storm on the seas’ cam, ’stood up to fast’ cam, ‘lets spin real fast in circles’ cam, ‘proud drug induced soccer mom’ cam, “Wile E. Coyote after getting hit with Acme anvil’ cam, ‘beer olympics frat boy’ cam or what, but it is seriously making me ill.  I just got dizzy thinking about it.

6.  One more question, did anybody else notice that Jon Barry may have spent a little too much time on the Riverwalk leading up to Game 1?  I felt like I was looking at John Candy in Summer Rental* after the beach scene.  Man, he was red.   

Game 2 prediction:  Spurs 87 - Cavs 83

*Editor’s Note: Obscure 1980’s movie references like this is why God invented Netflix.  Sure, you are thinking that God did not invent Netflix.  But God invented man, who, in turn, invented Netlix.  “Ipso facto,” God invented Netflix.  That’s right, I hit you with an obscure movie quote (White Goodman, Dodgeball) while discussing my previous obscure movie reference (Summer Rental).  Take that.

Sincerely.  He was an intern for the Spurs.  He became Assistant G.M. at 28 years of age.  Now, at the tender age of 31, Sam Presti is the General Manager of the Seattle (Super)Sonics.  He has everything I want professionally. 

The guy has the opportunity to draft a once-a-decade scorer in Kevin Durant, and all the marketing potential that comes with it.  He has a proven star at the shooting guard, who also has the prettiest jumpshot in all of basketball, in Ray Allen.  He has some talented, although unrefined, in Robert Swift, Nick Collison, Chris Wilcox, Sene Sene, and Johan Petro.  He has two solid backup point guards in Earl Watson and Luke Ridnour.  Ridnour (or Watson) and one or two of the bigs can easily be packaged in a deal to bring in a quality veteran, read Jermaine O’Neal.  Presti also has the chance to try to swing a deal to perhaps bring in someone like Zach Randolph if Rashard Lewis truly wants out.  Oh yeah, I forgot, Marcus Camby may be available.  The Nuggets are trying to cut some tax money, why can’t Presti try to get in on that sweet deal.  Once again, he may not have all the pieces to get a deal done, but his bigs and guards can certainly be used to sweeten someone else’s deal. 

The possibilities are endless for him right now.  Let’s just hope he (and Durant) can save Seattle basketball, because the Oklahoma Sonics sounds just as stupid as the Utah Jazz (or Memphis Grizzlies).

For the record:  tonight’s score, San Antonio 94 - Cleveland 81.

<><>In a recent article on ESPN, where John Hollinger sorted through all the necessary statistics of the 60 NBA Finals teams, and then ranked them 1 through 60, I thought the following would be some extremely interesting facts for all those nay-sayers claiming that the Spurs 1999 title never really happened because of the strike-shortened season. 
</>

“8. 1999 San Antonio Spurs                                               Score: 268.2
	KEY FACTS Regular-season record: 37-13 Postseason record: 15-2 Avg. scoring margin: +8.1 Avg. scoring margin, playoffs: +7.2 Finals result: Beat New York, 4-1	LEADERS Scoring: Tim Duncan, 21.7 ppg Rebounds: Tim Duncan, 11.4 rpg Assists: Avery Johnson, 7.4 apg Coach: Gregg Popovich Finals MVP: Tim Duncan

 

 

 

 

 

 

A forgotten great team because of the lockout, the Spurs began the year 6-8 … and then went 46-7 the rest of the way, with nary a losing streak. An awesome defensive squad led by big men David Robinson and Tim Duncan, San Antonio’s 84.7 points allowed per game is far and away the least of any of these 60 squads. That 15-2 postseason mark ain’t too shabby either, including sweeps of the Blazers and Lakers. So stingy was the defense that only twice in 17 playoff games did San Antonio’s opponent muster 90 points.”  *

Take a minute, and go ahead and read that again. 

Allow it to soak in. 

…

…

…

Now, how can anybody, especially in light of the following 8 years, claim that the 1999 Spurs team should not be recognized.  Did you see their 46-7 record after a slow start?  Did you notice how few points they allowed per game (84.7)?  What about the 15-2 playoff run?  And they did not beat a bunch of schmucks either.  That Spurs team toppled a loaded Portland Trail Blazers team.  I mean, they broke the Blazers’ backs in that series too.  They also swept the Lakers that season, which coincidentally led to the hiring of Phil Jackson and a Laker three-peat. 

Let the record show that this was the first of three (potentially four) titles over a seven year span (potentially nine), and they destroyed the rest of the league that year. 

As we descend upon the NBA Finals, I can’t help but think what might have been: Tony Dumas, Phoenix Suns.  What a one hit wonder Dumas was.  I can still remember him dunking on anyone and everyone before those Phoenix Suns ran into an angry Michael Jordan.

Food for thought: The Spurs, frequently referred to as the most boring/vanilla team in basketball, are actually the team that wants to push the pace in this series.  That’s right, sports fans, the Spurs do not want to get caught up in the plodding, ugly-ball game that the Cleveland King James (have they officially changed the name of the team, yet?) want to offer up to the basketball gods. 

If I were a betting man: I would take the Spurs in 5.  Game 1 will belong to the Spurs, and it probably won’t be pretty.  Cleveland will enjoy the moment too much, and get caught “watching the paint dry.”  Game 2 will be a lot closer, but I still think that  San Antonio will prevail.  Game 3 probably belongs to Cleveland.  They will have too much fan support on their side coming out of the gate in that game.  Game 4 could go either way, but the Spurs are amazing at playing well after a loss.  If they win Game 4, they will certainly win the closeout game in Game 5. 

Future advice:  Do not bet against San Antonio in a closeout game.  You will probably want to take the over in that one as well.  The Spurs have been exceptional at covering the over in this postseason.  If you think the line is too high, do a little 4 point teaser parlay with the Spurs and the over.  Of course, that is only if gambling is legal in the U.S. (or if you happen to be in Vegas for any of the games). 

Darn you scheduling Gods: I live 5 hours from Cleveland, that’s all.  A mere five hours.  If you have made the 17-hour trek to San Antonio as many times as I have, you would realize that 5 hours is nothing.  However, I must have done something to anger the scheduling Gods because the Finals started so late in the week that I was not provided an opportunity for a weekend voyage to the Cuyahoga River to watch a game.  Bummer.  I will survive in front of my 50″ flat.  ‘Tis why I bought it my friends.

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did: The Daunte Culpepper era in Miami was almost as entertaining as the Billy Donovan era in Orlando.  For the record, the Dolphins passed on Brady Quinn (now of wedding dancer Village People fame) and are in the midst of trading Daunte Culpepper so they can bring in Trent Green and draft a speedy returner with a serious foot injury.  He’s not over-the-hill yet, but he is certainly at the mountain’s peak.  At least they will not have to worry about Green’s health issues like they did with Culpepper.  Oh, that’s right, he took the nastiest shot to the head this league has seen since Steve Young.  Doh!

Yeah, right.  Like there is any way that Mike Brown will be able to compete with the likes of Coach Popp.  But you know who ‘Big Mike’ (as he was affectionately called in San Antonio) reminds me of… a young Coach Popovich.  Few people remember this now, just because Popp has become arguably the best coach in the league, but when he first took over the team, the Spurs offense was downright anemic.  Popp did all of his work at the defensive end of the court, and relied on early high posts of David Robinson, and then settling into the low post offense of Tim Duncan as the game progressed.  Everyone else just stood around.  Every once in a while, Sean Elliott would cut to the basket for a dunk, but I’m convinced that was more savvy-veteran play of ‘The Ninja’ versus coaching design by Popp. 

I frequently remember becoming frustrated with the dry, inactive Spurs offense.  By the way, that invigorating style of play led to many 14-point, 8 turnover quarters back in the day.  However, Popp worked and developed a better understanding of the offensive end of the court (it didn’t hurt that he used some of the things he picked up from Nellie and Larry Brown along the way), and he also gained a better understanding of when/how to use dead ball plays.  This all culminated in the Memorial Day Miracle shot by Sean Elliott when Popp slightly modified their typical inbounds play to get Elliott open.  (Elliott was on fire that afternoon, and I have already discussed what it felt like to be there in person.  I will just rehash it slightly, and tell you it was the coolest athletic event I have ever witnessed.) 

Then, a few years ago, Popp saw the writing on the wall when he had the young, uber-fast, uber-athletic tandem of Parker and Ginobili on the court together.  He couldn’t reign these guys in and run the prodding offense that worked with Avery Johnson, Terry Porter, and the rest of the older guys.  He had to allow these guys to run, and use their best assets on the offensive end.  Popp implemented the 1-4 low style that many teams use, but he also started to use more of a motion offense with players making backdoor cuts.  That has really flourished with the great passing abilities of Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, Barry, et. al. 

I think this is where we may eventually see Mike Brown.  Right now, he’s extremely rough around the edges, and it is clearly evident on the offensive end of the court.  Big Mike also struggles with his usage of timeouts (something Popp has completely mastered) and dead-ball situations.    I really hope Big Mike will get there, as I have always liked him.  He was an incredibly nice guy whenever we ran into him in our athletic center, and has to go down as one of the best postgame interviews I have ever heard.

Okay, all you loyal NBA fans (and you few readers), I am calling for some responses to a very important question: How can Chauncey Billups be referred to Mr. Big Shot?  Seriously, I need to know.  I watch, on average, 80+ regular season games per year (my soon to be wife must really love me), and then I religiously watch nearly every single postseason game.  I couldn’t stomach most of the Eastern Conference playoffs this season, that was just brutal.  So where do all these “big shots” come from.  Sure, I’ve seen Chauncey knock down a couple of jumpers at the end of the shot clock, but that happens all the time throughout the course of a game and a season.  

Off the top of my head, I can only think of one or two game winners Chauncey has knocked down.  And, those shots came during his short tenure with the Pistons.  Before that, Chauncey was shipped around the league and never managed to remain with any team for more than one full season. 

I think Chauncey Billups needs to apologize to Robert Horry for trying to rip off his name.  Big Shot Rob has been hitting game winners for the entire duration of his career, and the majority of those shots were made during the postseason.  He killed the Spurs as a Rocket.  He killed the Suns as a Rocket.  He killed the Knicks as a Rocket.

Then he went to Los Angeles, and continued to do what he does best, hit game winners.  The obvious shot against the Sacramento Kings in the Western Conference finals comes to mind.  But my friends, there were many more than that.  He hit two coffin threes against the Spurs in 2001.  He hit some backbreaking threes against the Blazers to destroy that stacked roster during the Lakers’ three-peat. 

My college roommates and I used to regularly make jokes that Phil Jackson would swing by the Playboy Mansion where Horry was hanging out poolside for the entire regular season, just so Phil could personally drive him to the arena for the postseason.  We would joke that Horry would then sit at the end of the bench smoking cigars and drinking scotch in a Hugh Hefner robe until Coach Jackson would call for him in the fourth quarter.  We would constantly come up with exotic locations that the Lakers would have to search for Horry to pick him up for the only thing he cared about, winning postseason games.  And every year, Horry would not disappoint us.   

Today, I was sitting in my office with a short break between files, so I checked out the autographed picture of Horry burying the game-winner against the Pistons in 2005.  It has Horry in the air after just releasing the shot.  The ball is in mid arc, sailing through the air.  Tayshaun Prince has gone flying by Horry with his left-hand dangling from trying to block the shot.  Rasheed is standing there with his jaw dropped.  Timmy and Ben Wallace are battling each other for position, and the shot clock shows 7.4 seconds left. 

None of this, however, is what matters.  The most important part of the picture are the fans.  The detail of the framed picture allows you to see all the fans faces, even into the upper deck.  I lost count of how many people look like Horry just shot their dog.  You can even pick out a few people that have their hands completely over their face, because they already know the outcome.  The best part is the lone Spurs fan that can be picked out of the crowd.  He is the guy with his hands sky-high screaming in pure delight.  These are the things you are used to seeing when you watch Big Shot Rob play.  It is simple.  He just makes game winning shots (and plays for that matter).

So, now, I need everyone out there, all you ‘net talkers, to provide me with some concrete examples of how ‘Mr. Big Shot’ has earned his name.  Because, all I can think of right now are two ill-advised leaning three pointers that careened off the rim in the past two games.  Then I think of his stinkbomb in Game 7 of the 2005 NBA Finals.  You have to give me more than that.